They don’t necessarily sound like words we would usually hear this near to Christmas, but Paul in the book of Philippians writes, Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). We focus during this season on things we are thankful about in our daily lives as we go about our daily activities.

Those who are most fortunate find cause during this season to help those who are truly less fortunate. There are drives to provide toys for children who would not otherwise have much. There are agencies like First United Methodist Church, which along with the rest of this community will provide a Christmas meal to those who will accept this generosity from the community. There are those who work in the Christmas Angels program of the Vineyard and who are recipients of the generosity of our community. We give and we are thankful in our prayers and by our actions. For those who worry at this time of the year, there are others who, because we have been blessed, will respond to needs with prayers, supplications, AND generous response.

Our behavior during this pre-Christmas season reflects a Christian behavior of “rejoicing in God,” which reduces our worrying about other things. The global condition is not something we can do too much about, but the needs of people we know locally, is within our reach. In the Clergy Journal, May-June 2009, Thom Bower said, “The suggestion in Philippians to start with prayer is both an achievable task and a statement of faith.”

Do you begin and end your day in prayer? Do you begin meetings you participate in for the betterment of church and community with prayer? Do you take the seemingly impossible tasks that are within your reach and enter them in prayer? Do you pray for the president, the Congress, the governor and the state legislative bodies, as you remember in prayer the county judge and commissioners and the mayor and city council? We can do much to complain about the wrongs of this world, we can also do much to pray that wrongs become rights and all are benefited by what we do!

If we are seeking the “peace” of this Christmas season, we could take to heart the actions of Philippians, which precede the promise of peace. To do so would mean we lift up rejoicing, activate gentleness in our daily behavior, eliminate worry from our life and vocabulary, and offer prayer and supplication. Our supplications that we offer to God are a “knowing of what we really need in life,” not necessarily what we want in a time of instant gratification. Paul reminds us to pray to God about what we need as a part of knowing that things first originate with God’s gift of grace.

The peace we seek in this time and place is to “feel the presence of God in our heart and mind.” You don’t find “peace” in your stomach. It resides in your heart where the important decisions are made. It resides in your mind where you measure all details of life for accuracy.

On Christmas Day we celebrate the “incarnation” of God’s love made flesh in Jesus. This peace of God, which sometimes passes all understanding, is greater than our ability to make sense of it all.